The Jobless Aren't Lazy, Their Critics Are

People who spout their "all-knowing wisdom" on the state of affairs without actually knowing what they're talking about, or doing any research, are very lazy people. They don't bother taking the time to gather the facts before pointing their scrawny and greasy fingers at other people and blaming them for being out of work, without even personally knowing these people.

And family members are no exception: Dad blames the son, brother blames the sister, grandpa blames the grandson, and I heard my own mother had blamed me. It's almost as though they've all been living in some gigantic antiseptic bubble during the Great Recession, and are totally unaware of what's been happening (maybe they've been watching Fox News).

What I could never understand is why people WITH jobs think that those WITHOUT jobs are so vile. People WITH jobs can be so brutally hostile towards the jobless that it's almost obsessive in nature. They even take the time to post rude and threatening comments on blogs and news articles too. When I once had a job, I had been far too busy to take part in such a meaningless and time-wasting activity. If anything, I would have felt a little compassion for the poor bastards...I wouldn't have insulted and ridiculed them. I would have just been thankful that it wasn't me.

They hate me because I now rely on food stamps, and it's so odd because, it's almost as though they are SO SURE it could never happen to them. But unless you're a millionaire, it can. Three years ago I never thought I would ever need food stamps either, yet here I am...having rocks thrown at me because no one would ever rehire me. They blame me for my situation as though I never tried to do anything to resist living in poverty and improve my lot in life. They blame me for their problems too.

The "blamers" never even take into account anything like in-house or union seniority when layoffs occur. These "know-it-alls" automatically assume that only poor or lazy workers were the first laid off. Or they will say that your "poor attitude" or "bad personality" had something to do with you being laid off or not being able to get rehired again without ever considering the possibility of age or race discrimination. Aside from the family members, but as for the strangers, I would like to tell those ignorant critics morons: "Sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."

(From November of last year) "Unemployment in Las Vegas is at 15%, almost six points above the national average. There are now nine unemployed individuals for every advertised job in Sin City, making it the nation's hardest place to find a job." SOURCE (It doesn't mention that there were also 300 applications for every opening.)

Where I live, the Las Vegas economy depends primarily on "discretionary spending" (conventions, vacations, gambling, etc.) I suspect it was one of the hardest hit cities in the recession and will be one of the last to recover. Falling home prices, foreclosures, and homelessness in Las Vegas led the nation. 

The unemployment rate (U-3) in Las Vegas is now 13.8% in August 2011, but it doesn't include those who are no longer counted because their Unemployment Insurance benefits expired, such as the (the "99ers"), who have been out of work for over 2 years. They may not even be included in the U-6 rate, which includes "discouraged workers" and the "marginally attached", which would put the unemployment rate in Las Vegas closer to 20%. That's 1 out of 5 people between the working ages of 16 and 65 years old. 

And here in Las Vegas, especially in the casinos, younger people are usually hired first. Discrimination for age and just for BEING unemployed runs rampant.

In case you're wondering, place like McDonald's only offered temporary part-time jobs as summer help to mostly teenagers who are still living at home. Some adults who might work 2 of these jobs (just to make ends meet) are called the "under-employed", and this is another reason why even these low-paying jobs are so hard to find.

The portion of men holding a job (any job, full or part-time) was 63.5% in July 2011. Among the category of prime working-age men between 25 and 54, only 81.2% held jobs. During the Great Depression employment among prime-age men never dropped below 85%. In contrast, in 1969, 95% of men in their prime working years had a job. SOURCE

Men and women in our Armed Forces keep re-enlisting because of the jobless situation. When they do enter the civilian job market (in the public or private sector), they are (rightfully so) given job preferences for being military Vets.

And because millions of other people are in the same boat, Social Security disability is now on the verge of insolvency. SOURCE:

Yet I'm always hearing how the unemployed are lazy and it's their own fault for not finding a job. But 14 million jobless Americans, and another 14 million "under-employed" Americans, and about 6 million 99ers, and our unemployed Vets, knows this is simply not true. I write extensively about all this in my soon-to-be-released book.

Do the critics (and ignorant and immature trolls) really believe that there are millions and millions of jobs being left unfilled because all these people are lazy? Even those whose unemployment benefits ran out over a year ago? Get real man! Don't be so damn lazy and get off your ignorant asses and do some research. It's called a "recession" for a reason. You can't blame a bad economy on all the jobless people you idiots! Especially since most off them have probably worked harder and longer than you ever will.

But truth be known, the Republicans want to divide these two classes of people (the employed and the jobless). Fox News has been hammering their message for almost 3 years: First to turn public sentiment against the jobless to keep from paying them benefits; and second, to use the unemployment numbers as a weapon against the Obama and his economic policies. But when the Republicans go full throttle to cut Medicare and pillage the Social Security Trust Fund, then they can expect more push back...even from people WITH jobs.

And this also makes me wonder...why do so many ignoramuses such as the "blamers" still have jobs when so many much more qualified and intelligent people still remain unemployed? That's the biggest mystery of all.

“Three or four million heads of households don’t turn into tramps and cheats overnight, nor do they lose the habits and standards of a lifetime. They don’t drink any more than the rest of us, they don’t lie any more, and they’re no lazier than the rest of us. An eighth or a tenth of the earning population does not change its character which has been generations in the moulding, or, if such a change actually occurs, we can scarcely charge it up to personal sin.” – Harry Hopkins, Federal relief administrator under Franklin D. Roosevelt – 1933